News

2013-07-05

AMERICA/GUATEMALA - 6,707 children under five years of age suffer from acute malnutrition and risk death

Guatemala City (Agenzia Fides) - Since the beginning of the year at least 51 children under 5 years of age died of acute malnutrition in Guatemala and approximately 2,244 of the 6,707 who suffer from this disease, are likely to die if they do not receive immediate aid. According to local sources, the children in danger live in areas of the country most severely affected by climate change, where there are heavy rains and drought. Statistics of the Ministry of Health in Guatemala stress that deaths are due to the occurrence of chronic diseases caused by lack of food. According to the Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (Sesan) 48 cases of children are registered who died from acute malnutrition and 28 are still being studied. According to official figures, 48% of Guatemalan children under 5 years of age suffer from chronic malnutrition because of the poverty in which 52% of the 14.5 million inhabitants of the country live. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 05/07/2013)